Daniel E. Barenbaum

Daniel Barenbaum, a partner in Berman Tabacco’s San Francisco office and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, works daily to seek financial justice for those who strive to save and invest for retirement or their well-being and who see the fruits of those labors disappear due to fraud or other bad behavior.  As a member of the firm’s Securities Practice Group, Daniel has represented and recovered for some of the largest public pension funds in the United States.  A trusted advisor, he excels at partnering with clients to minimize burdens and maximize understanding and preparation.

Fighting for clients for over 20 years, the cases Daniel has litigated have recovered over a billion dollars for injured plaintiffs. Daniel was formerly a partner at a San Francisco law firm where he represented clients in securities and antitrust litigation, as well as in mass tort and employment class actions and multidistrict litigation. With a business degree in finance in addition to his law degree, Daniel obtained his Series 7 and 66 licenses and worked for a financial services company, assisting clients with investment planning and risk mitigation.

Daniel has been ranked by Benchmark Litigation as a California State Litigation Star (2020-2025), San Francisco Local Litigation Star (2020-2025), and Noted Star (Plaintiff Work, Securities) (2020-2025), and as a Super Lawyer by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine (2020-2024).  He was also recognized as a Recommended Attorney in Securities Litigation by The Legal 500 (U.S. edition 2017-2020, 2024).  In 2024, The Legal 500 reported a client’s praise for Daniel, who stated that he is “super responsive and incredibly competent” and that if “you’ve got a fire drill, Daniel is the lawyer to call”; and in 2020 that he “is top-notch with superb attention to detail when drafting papers, arguing motions and negotiating.”  He has authored and lectured on issues pertinent to securities litigation.

Education

• Emory University (J.D., 2000)
• Emory University (M.B.A., 2000)
• Tufts University (B.A., English, 1994)

Experience

• Lead partner prosecuting novel action, Verthelyi v. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, No. 2:24-CV-05028 (C.D. CAL.), brought on behalf of a nationwide class for violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, California Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq., seeking injunctive relief and restitution with regard to two series of PennyMac’s fixed-to-floating rate Preferred Shares. Plaintiffs allege that PennyMac unlawfully and unfairly replaced the LIBOR-based benchmark rate, which ceased publication in 2021, with the initial fixed rate instead of transitioning to the replacement benchmark under the LIBOR Act and LIBOR Rule, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
• Lead partner prosecuting the securities fraud class action Erwin v. Veradigm Inc., No. 1:23-cv-16205 (N.D. Ill.), in which the firm represents the sole lead plaintiff Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association in a securities fraud class action against health technology company Veradigm Inc. brought under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as SEC Rule 10b-5, alleging that the company made materially false and misleading statements during the Class Period regarding its revenues, gross margins, and earnings growth.
• Was an integral member of the litigation team in a case against the two major credit rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s—California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. Moody’s Corp., No. CGC-09-490241 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco Cty.)—which was filed on behalf of the nation’s largest state pension fund, CalPERS.  The case was landmark litigation that sought to hold the rating agencies financially responsible for alleged negligent misrepresentations in rating certain structured investment vehicles, resulting in losses for CalPERS of close to $1 billion. CalPERS settled with Standard & Poor’s in early 2015 and with Moody’s a year later in March 2016, approximately two months before trial was set to commence, for a total recovery of $255 million.
• Was the day-to-day partner on In re Fannie Mae 2008 Securities Litigation, No. 1:08 Civ. 07831 (S.D.N.Y.), which settled for $170 million, where the firm represented co-lead plaintiff for the common stock class Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. The case alleged that Fannie Mae and two individual defendants made material misrepresentations between November 8, 2006 and September 5, 2008 and failed to disclose (a) that an enormous volume of mortgages on its books were “subprime” and “Alt-A” as defined internally by the company and throughout the industry, and (b) that defendants had inadequate internal controls to manage the significant risks created by the company’s purchases of those types of loans.
• Was one of the lead partners on Hayden v. Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., et al., No. 3:20-cv-00367-VC (N.D. Cal.), a securities class action in which the firm represented the sole Lead Plaintiff Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association. The case was brought on behalf of investors in Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Portola”), a biopharmaceutical company that developed and commercialized treatments for thrombosis and other hematologic diseases. Portola’s primary product was Andexxa, a reversal drug for apixaban- and rivaroxaban-treated patients with life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. The action alleged that, between January 8, 2019 and February 26, 2020, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements related to the sales of Andexxa. Lead Plaintiff’s complaint alleged violations of Sections 10(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Specially, the complaint alleged that defendants’ positive statements about the company’s business, operations, and prospects were material misrepresentations of fact and/or lacked a reasonable basis. The company was alleged to have misrepresented (1) that it complied with GAAP, specifically as to recognizing revenue under ASC-606 and under-reserving for returns given that Portola’s product Andexxa had a short-shelf-life and the company therefore offered a generous return policy on all expired product; and (2) customer demand for and utilization of Andexxa for those that purchased it (e.g., hospital and hospital-system pharmacies), both as to depth (regularity of usage) and breadth (types of bleeds prescribed for).
• Represents institutional investor clients in matters involving multi-party issues/disputes and complex discovery (for documents, individual depositions, and institutional “person most knowledgeable” depositions of key executives), including matters where they stand to collect millions of dollars as potential beneficiaries of certain government agencies’ investigations or civil actions.
• Acted as key trial-team member in a three-month mass-tort trial against a major pharmaceutical company.
• Has significant late-stage pretrial experience, taking several cases to the eve of trial, including the In re MetLife Demutualization Litigation in 2009.
• Managed a large and resource-heavy mass tort case, setting and helping implement strategy, coordinating with co-counsel around the world, and supervising more than two dozen attorneys and staff.

Honors & Distinctions

• Ranked by Benchmark Litigation as a California State Litigation Star (2020-2025), San Francisco Local Litigation Star (2020-2025), and Noted Star (Plaintiff Work, Securities) (2020-2025)
• Recognized as a Recommended Attorney in Securities Litigation by The Legal 500 (U.S. edition 2017-2020, 2024)
• Named a Super Lawyer by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine (2020-2024)
• Earned Most Outstanding Academic Accomplishment business school award

Admissions

• State Bar of California
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• Bar Association of San Francisco
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Education

• Board President, Osher Marin Jewish Community Center

Publications, Presentations & Appearances

• Co-author of Why Event-Driven Securities Class Actions Often Succeed, Law360, Apr. 5, 2023
• Webinar panel presentation: Securities Class Action Litigation in the 2020 Landscape: What You Should Know and Do, The Knowledge Group (May 5, 2020)
• Co-author of The Currency of Capitalism With a Social Conscience, Financier Worldwide Magazine (June 2018)
• Co-author of Snap Judgment—S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell Indices Ensure That Investors Retain Voting Rights, Financier Worldwide Magazine (October 2017)
• Environmental, Social & Governance Risk and Your Fiduciary Future, presenter at National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems Public Safety Employee Pension & Benefits Conference (October 2013)
• Portfolio Transparency and ESG Risk Factors, presenter at National Council on Teacher Retirement Annual Trustee Workshop (July 28-31, 2013)
• Author of Delineating Covered Class Actions Under SLUSA, Securities Litigation Report (December-January 2005)
• Contributing author, California Class Actions Practice and Procedures (Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Editor-in-Chief, 2003)
• Co-Author, Class Certification of Medical Monitoring Claims in Mass Tort Product Liability Litigation (Leader Publications, 1999)